The present invention relates to an LP gas storing cylinder used for a fuel source of a portable gas burner and more particularly to an LP gas storing cylinder adapted so as to be able to be recharged with LP gas.
There is a conventional LP gas storing cylinder which is used by being attached to a portable gas burner instrument. This conventional cylinder comprises a main body having a top portion to which a gas take-out nozzle constituting part of a gas shut-off valve is attached so as to be able to advance and retreat. When the LP gas storing cylinder is attached to the gas burner instrument, the gas take-out nozzle is pushed into the cylinder to open the gas shut-off valve. Conversely, when it is removed from the gas burner instrument, the gas take-out nozzle advances to close the gas shut-off valve.
Generally, the gas storing cylinder of this type is charged with LP gas in a factory and thereafter is circulated in the market. The gas shut-off valve is formed from one gas passage. Therefore, a trial to recharge the LP gas has resulted in vain unless a compressor is used or the gas storing cylinder has its temperature lowered to reduce its inner pressure because gas residual in the cylinder is going to be pressurized as the LP gas is recharged. For this reason, generally the LP gas cylinder was disposed after the gas contained therein had been used and therefore could be employed only once. However, the disposed gas storing cylinder still keeps so sufficient a strength that it costs a huge amount of expense to deal with the disposed gas storing cylinders. Therefore, economical loss resulted from disposing the gas storing cylinders as well as from dealing with the disposed gas storing cylinders.
In an attempt to solve the above economical disadvantage, the present invention aims at providing an LP gas storing cylinder able to be recharged with LP gas easily even in a house.
The present invention is characterized in that:
an LP gas storing cylinder has a top portion fixed to a valve block provided with a through hole for attaching a gas take-out nozzle, the nozzle attaching through hole having a halfway portion provided with a valve chamber, a gas take-out nozzle being attached to the nozzle attaching through hole as urged with an urging spring for valve closing in a direction where it advances, the gas take-out nozzle having an interior area provided with a gas take-out passage so as not to pass through the nozzle, the nozzle attaching through hole communicating with the gas take-out passage by a window hole formed through a wall of the gas take-out nozzle, a sealing ring being fitted into a portion where the window hole is formed;
the sealing ring comes into contact with a front end wall surface of the valve chamber to thereby shut off a communication between an interior area of the LP gas cylinder and the gas take-out passage when the gas take-out nozzle has advanced, and on the other hand, it comes to contact with an inner end wall surface of the valve chamber to thereby communicate the interior area of the LP gas cylinder with the gas take-out passage when the gas take-out nozzle has retreated; and
a guide pipe to communicate the interior area of the LP gas cylinder with the valve chamber projects from an inner end wall of the valve block into the interior area of the cylinder.
The present invention adapts the valve chamber formed in the valve block and the interior area of the LP gas storing cylinder so that they can communicate with each other by the nozzle attaching through hole and the guide pipe. The gas take-out nozzle attached to the nozzle attaching through hole has an interior area formed with the gas take-out passage so as not to pass through the nozzle. This passage communicates with the nozzle attaching through hole. When the gas take-out nozzle has been pushed in, the LP gas storing cylinder has its interior area communicated with its exterior area through the gas take-out passage. Consequently, when this LP gas storing cylinder is connected to a burner instrument, the gas take-out nozzle is pushed in to supply LP gas within the LP gas storing cylinder to the burner instrument.
On the other hand, when the LP gas within the LP gas storing cylinder has decreased in amount, the current LP gas storing cylinder has the gas take-out nozzle attached to a gas take-out nozzle of a supplementing LP gas storing cylinder in butting relationship therewith, instead of the burner instrument. Then the gas take-out nozzle of the current LP gas storing cylinder is pushed in to communicate the gas take-out passage formed in the gas take-out nozzle with the interior area of the cylinder main body. As a result, the LP gas contained in the supplementing LP gas storing cylinder flows down into the current LP gas storing cylinder through the gas take-out passage to thereby be recharged. At this time, gaseous component within the current LP gas storing cylinder is pushed up by flowed-in liquid component to be discharged out of the current LP gas cylinder through the guide pipe, the valve chamber, and a space between an outer peripheral surface of the gas take-out nozzle and an inner peripheral surface of the nozzle attaching through hole.
And the present invention projects the guide pipe from the valve block into the interior area of the cylinder. Owing to this arrangement, the recharged LP gas is poured into the current LP gas storing cylinder in a predetermined amount and when its liquid level reaches a lower end of the guide pipe, the liquid component is pushed out of the guide pipe by an inner pressure of the current LP gas storing cylinder to result in being able to appreciate the predetermined amount of the LP gas has been recharged.